Pepe Mel must hit the ground running at West Brom

Keith Downing did a fairly decent job with West Brom over the Christmas and New Year period but it today’s defeat at Southampton will remind everyone why it is good news the Baggies have finally got a new permanent manager coming in.

Pepe Mel was in the stands at St Mary’s for the 1-0 loss and it will be interesting to see how the side develops with the new boss over the rest of the season.

With West Brom just three points off the drop zone it’s obvious the fans would prefer to see the improvements come sooner rather than later.

I for one am looking forward to his influence.

He is admired throughout Spain not only for his charismatic personality, but also for his attractive, free flowing football.

That’ll do nicely for all inside the Hawthorns.

He has also been having English lessons for a number of months as managing in England is a dream he wanted to fulfil, so hopefully the language barrier won’t be as much of an issue as some media are making out.

Plus, with Diego Lugano and Claudio Yacob, alongside Spanish speaking Youssouf Mulumbu and Nicolas Anelka, the messages he tries to get across should be received.

His CV is impressive, too. While remaining in Spain his entire career, he has had spells managing Getafe, Real Murcia, Tenerife and Rayo Vallecano.

His most successful stint as boss was his most recent one, with former club Real Betis. He guided the Verdiblancos back to the Primera Divison after they’d suffered relegation, and managed to achieve seventh place the following season: a Europa League spot.

Mel will have to make some decisions on the future of near half the squad in the coming months, but also in the next few weeks while the January transfer window runs.

While the likes of Brede Hangeland and Craig Gardner are being supposedly considered, there is a whole host of names that have much to do to stay at the club long-term, I feel.

Shane Long, Steven Reid, Nicolas Anelka and Zoltan Gera are out of contract in the summer while Markus Rosenberg and Graham Dorrans are on the fringes.

The loans of Goran Popov, Matej Vydra, Morgan Amalfitano and Scott Sinclair are coming to an end. Look further afield, and the futures of Craig Dawson, Diego Lugano and Scott Allan hang in the balance.

There is work to be done in the summer, undoubtedly, and it’ll be interesting to see the ideas that Pepe brings to the table in terms of incoming transfers.

Crucially, he is renowned for working to a budget, something that was always going to be necessary criteria for any successful candidate.